Man accused of stealing meat to sell for heroin

A man who allegedly stole meat from a West York grocery store in order to buy drugs was arrested after a foot chase Thursday, police said.

Luis Angel Soto-Rivera, 38, of the 2700 block of Crestview Drive in York Township was arrested by West York Police after he allegedly shoved a customer to the ground and fled the store.

He is charged with robbery, retail theft, flight to avoid apprehension and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to online court documents.

Bail was set at $10,000 during Soto-Rivera's arraignment at Central Booking in York City Thursday night.

Robbery: Borough police were dispatched to Giant Foods Store at 1200 W. Market St. for a retail theft in progress at 4:41 p.m., according to police.

The caller, a store manager, told dispatchers that a man wearing a black jacket and blue jeans had put meat items into a duffel bag and was attempting to leave the store, police said.

When confronted, the man dropped the bag and violently left the store, shoving a female customer who was blocking his path to the floor, police said.

He ran from the store and was last seen heading toward York City.

About a minute after being dispatched to the store, a patrolman saw a man matching the description of the robber walking in the first block of South Richland Avenue and attempted to stop the man.

Chase: The man, later identified as Soto-Rivera, ignored the patrolman and ran through heavy rush-hour traffic. The patrolman gave chase and arrested Soto-Rivera after tackling him in the 900 block of West King Street in York City, police said.

Police found what they said was a heroin needle in one of Soto-Rivera's pants pockets and seven pork products and two packages of cough medication, valued at $160, in the duffel bag, police said.

During questioning, Soto-Rivera admitted to stealing the meat, telling the patrolman that he did it because he was going to sell the meat, and was going to use the money to buy heroin, police said.